


Family of Four

by ArielAquarial



Series: Family of Three [22]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Castiel is Claire Novak's Parent, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fatherhood, Fluff, M/M, Mechanic Dean Winchester, No Angst, Professor Castiel (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24292903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArielAquarial/pseuds/ArielAquarial
Summary: Dean recognized how cliché it was to say that great things come at the most unexpected times, but that didn’t make it any less true. He had been slogging his way through the day, changing oil, running smog checks, etc. The usual. What wasn’t usual was the phone call he got from the adoption agency halfway through a tire rotation.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Family of Three [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1127873
Comments: 15
Kudos: 199





	Family of Four

**Author's Note:**

> **Throws the last installment at you and immediately goes to a corner so I can cry in peace**

Dean recognized how cliché it was to say that great things come at the most unexpected times, but that didn’t make it any less true. He had been slogging his way through the day, changing oil, running smog checks, etc. The usual. What _wasn’t_ usual was the phone call he got from the adoption agency halfway through a tire rotation. He ignored the call, of course, not even bothering to check who was calling. There were dozens of things that could happen to a person while they were under the lift, and none were pleasant. If his boss caught him on the phone under the left, he’d get the lecture of a lifetime. It wasn’t until he lowered the car, put his tools away, and washed his gritty hands, that he even remembered his missed call.

He didn’t recognize the number, but that was nothing special. Dean had a handful of scam calls a day and usually didn’t answer, but this one left a message. Expecting to hear something about a cousin being in jail or him owing the IRS money, he rolled his eyes and hit play on the voicemail.

“Hello, Mr. Novak. This is Michelle from Heartfelt Adoption Services. I’m calling to inform you that you and your spouse have been approved for adoption. It is important to start the process as soon as possible, so please give me a call.”

She went on to give them office hours and then hung up with one final request for a callback, but he barely heard it over the blood pumping through his ears.

It felt like years since he and Cas started the process, although it had only been months, and his brain was sluggish in believing that they were finally approved. They applied, had their interviews, attended training, had their home inspection, provided a handful of reference letters, answered invasive questions, filled out financial information, and all but gave them blood samples…and now?

Shit…did Cas know? Cas had always been the primary contact for any information they sent out. If Dean was called at all, it was after they tried and failed to reach his husband. He glanced at the clock and tried to figure out what time they would have called Cas. If his guess was correct, it would have been sometime during his 2 pm class. Cas’s class was over by now and he had probably been home for the last thirty minutes. Plenty of time to check his phone and find a message.

He frowned to himself, taking a moment to guess why the hell Cas wouldn’t have called him as soon as he checked his messages—which Dean knew for a fact he always did after classes. The answer his mind eventually came up with didn’t sit well with him. If Cas hadn’t called him to share the good news himself, and Dean had known Cas long enough to make an educated guess, then that only meant one thing… Cas was panicking.

“Well, shit.”

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Dean remembered the conversation that started it all, and how excited Cas had been.

He’d been at the grill in their backyard putting slices of aged cheddar on sizzling burgers, mind racing with thoughts. He knew, at the very least, that asking to expand their little family wouldn’t be taken badly. What was making him nervous was the fact that he was going to ask Cas for something else. Something that he wasn’t sure was going to be taken badly. He wanted to ask if he could adopt Claire. He had been toying with the idea long before they were married, but thinking about doing it and actually asking permission was another thing completely.

Dean gulped nervously as he pulled the last burger off of the grill. Five in total. Two for him, two for Cas, and one for Claire. He spent a little too much time staring at the beef and imagining having a sixth burger patty on that plate. One for another child, maybe two or three years old. One who could play with Claire, and learn from their big sister. A boy maybe. Cas could dress him up in a sweater vest and take him to his class. The students would love that. Dean could put him in a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and hold him on one hip while they changed Baby’s spark plugs together.

He shook himself out of it a moment later, almost laughing at himself for getting emotional thinking of a theoretical child that he hadn't even brought up to Cas yet. Dean took the plate of patties inside and deposited it next to the buns.

“Cas! Claire! Burgers are ready!”

“But I don’t want a burger!” Claire complained, trudging sadly into the kitchen.

Cas bypassed her and grabbed a bun from the stack. Slapping a cheese covered patty onto the bread, he plated it and held it out for her. “This is what we’re having for dinner, Claire bear. Thank Daddy Dee, won't you?”

“Thank you, Deedee.” She grumbled. With a dramatic sigh, she took the plate and went to the dining table. “Can we have oatmeal for dinner tomorrow?”

Both Cas and Dean ignored ger request, and started making their own burgers. An avocado burger for Cas and a bacon, barbeque one for himself. They ate mostly in silence, even Claire was too busy picking the cheese off her burger to fill the silence with conversation.

Dean cleared his throat. “Hey, Cas…can we talk after dinner? I wanted to run a few things by you.”

“Hm, sounds serious. Should we have Claire keep minutes?”

Dean smiled in spite of himself. “Better have our meeting after she goes to bed.”

“Sure, love. I’ll pencil you in.”

Rolling his eyes, Dean got up to make himself a second burger. After dinner, they sat down for a little tv. It was one of his favorite places to be, side by side with Claire stretched across their legs. He ran his fingers through her hair, wondering what he did to deserve them.

Eventually, they were able to put her into bed and have a moment to themselves. Back on the couch, Cas turned off the tv and leaned back with a sigh. Dean gave him a moment, knowing that Cas’s job could be stressful, and watched him relax into the couch.

After a few minutes, he cleared his throat. “Remember when I said I wanted to talk to you about something?”

Cas’s eyes cracked open and turned to Dean. “Of course. This isn’t about getting Chili a boyfriend, is it? I know you think she’s lonely, but getting a rooster would—”

“No, it’s not that,” he grumbled.

Cas eyed Dean skeptically. “Ok, then.”

“Well, I still think a rooster would—never mind.” He took a deep breath. “Ok, so I guess there are two things I want to talk to you about. Let me just lead with the easiest.”

At Dean’s nervous pause, Cas cleared his throat. “Yes?”

Ok, maybe it _wasn’t_ the easiest. Still, he squared his shoulders and looked into Cas’s blue eyes. “I want to adopt Claire.”

Cas sucked in a breath and stared at him wide-eyed. “You do?”

“Well, yeah. You know I love Claire.” Cas just continued to stare at him, so he pressed on. “That was one of the reasons I wanted to take your last name. That way, we can all be Novak’s. I wouldn’t have asked both of you to change your last names.”

To Dean’s utter disbelief, tears began to well in Cas’s eyes. “Dean…”

“Oh, shit…” he reached out uselessly, unsure if Cas wanted comfort or not. Dean settled with a gentle hand on his neck, thumb sweeping gently across his skin. “You ok, babe?”

Cas sucked in a deep breath and nodded quickly. “Really? You want to officially adopt her?”

“Of course!”

He chuckled and sniffed, still attempting to keep the tears away. “I was wondering why the last name issue was never an argument. I guess I should have just asked, but I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“I’ve wanted to adopt Claire for a long time, so I never even considered asking you to change your last name.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Dean shrugged. “I didn’t want to freak you out, and I just kind of hoped you’d ask me about adoption at some point. I know we’ve been married for less than a year, but I was getting tired of waiting.”

Tears were now overflowing and streaking down his face. “I would have. I swear to you. It’s just a big step, and some men can be—”

“When have I ever been like other men?” he joked. “Come on, babe. You know I love Claire like she’s my own.”

“Dean…”

Dean had to clear his throat to prevent himself from turning into a blubbering mess. “Yeah, well… is it even something that’s possible? I know Micheal was never in the picture, but—”

Cas was shaking his head sharply. “It was _my_ sperm and we divorced before Claire was born, so Michael gave up all parental rights. We need nothing from him, not even a damn signature. I would be honored to start the process.”

He sagged against the couch. “Thank God. I wasn’t looking forward to meeting the bastard.”

“I have the same feeling, I assure you. To be honest, this was the last thing I expected you to bring up when you said you wanted to talk. I thought you were going to complain about me claiming part of the garage to store my camping supplies.”

Dean pursed his lips at the reminder that Cas had rearranged the garage, messing up his organization system, to clear a few shelves for his stuff. It was an old grievance, and he once again pushed it to the back of his head. “Yeah, well we can talk about that later.”

Cas rolled his eyes, a happy smile flooding his face with light. “I’m not giving up the shelfs. You have the rest of the garage, so if that’s not enough you should get rid of some things.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” he muttered. “It's like you don’t even love me.”

“It’s two shelves, Dean. It's not a big deal.”

“Tell that to my engine parts.”

“What was the other thing?” Cas asked, ignoring Dean’s continued mutterings.

“The what?”

“You said you had two things to talk to be about.”

“Yeah.” _Just spit it_ out, he told himself. If he didn’t make a big deal about it, maybe Cas wouldn’t either. “Have you ever thought about adopting a kid?”

If possible, Cas seemed even more surprised at this than he was when Dean mentioned adopting Claire. “Have you?”

“Yes?” he asked hesitantly. “Only if you want to, though. It's not like it’s a deal-breaker or anything.”

“I’m going to be honest with you, love. I haven’t.”

The soul-crushing disappointment must have been clear on his face, because before Dean could mutter more than a sad “oh,” Cas was rushing to continue. “But that doesn’t mean I’m against it.”

He let out a breath, the anxious clenching in his stomach easing somewhat. “Thank fuck.”

“I wasn’t aware you wanted another child. This seems like something we should have discussed before marriage. In fact, we definitely should have.”

“I didn’t want to bring it up because I love Claire, but every once in a while I’d look at us together and think it would be nice to have a little rugrat running around and causing trouble with her. Maybe a little boy.”

Cas smiled at the image. “That doesn’t sound like a passing thought, Dean. This sounds like something you really want.”

“Well, not if you don’t want it,” he hedged. Fuck, the last thing he wanted was for Cas to agree just because it was something Dean wanted. A child wasn’t something you could return just because you changed your mind. If Cas agreed and then regretted it… “Listen, maybe we should talk about this another time. Do you want a drink or something? I could really use a whiskey.”

Cas’s hand grasped his forearm the moment he stood to leave. “Dean, calm down.”

He slumped into the couch and closed his eyes, willing his heart to calm. No matter how often he told himself that it didn’t matter if Cas didn’t want to adopt a child, just the slightest hint of rejection caused him to freak out. Hell, it wasn’t even a hint of rejection… all Cas had to do was question him and he fell apart. “Yeah, sorry.”

“Can you give me some time to think about this?”

Dean swallowed nervously. “Yeah, sure. When you’re ready to talk about it, just…”

“I’ll let you know.”

Dean waited two painful weeks for Cas to finally sit him down and bring up the topic again. In true Cas fashion, they talked for an hour after Claire went to bed, discussing cost, if their home was big enough for four, if they wanted a baby or someone a little older, whether or not they were capable of taking care of an extra kid with their schedules, and so many other things that Dean’s head was spinning.

In the end, though, Cas had said the magic word. _Yes_.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Back at the shop with his phone still in hand and heart beating madly in his chest, Dean was at a loss for what to do. Eventually, he walked to the corner of the shop and wedged himself next to the refrigerator, effectively hiding from everyone in the shop. With a deep breath, he pulled up Cas’s number and hit dial. When the call didn’t connect the first time, he called again. Then again.

If Cas wasn’t answering his phone, it was worse than he thought.

The clock said he still had forty-five minutes left in the workday, and he just _knew_ if he didn’t get home ASAP that Cas would work himself into a damn fit—if he hadn’t already. It took a solid five minutes to convince his boss that he needed to leave early, and the only reason he agreed was that Dean had finished his last job already and if he stayed, the boss would be paying him to sweep the shop for the next forty-five minutes.

He rushed home and parked in the garage, rushing through his usual routine of slipping out of his grease-stained jumpsuit and marching straight through the door and into the kitchen. Cas was nowhere to be seen. The office was empty, no one was in the backyard, the only thing that indicated Cas was even home was his bookbag resting against the coffee table in the living room.

Dean found him in the bedroom, face down on the bed with his feet dangling off the edge. The fact that his loafers were still on his feet told Dean all he needed to know. He stood in the doorway for a moment, observing the distressed man. He hoped it wasn’t regret Cas was feeling.

He stepped further into the room, socked feet silent on the carpet. “Cas?”

The man grunted.

He took another step closer, putting a knee on the memory phone and crawling until he was able to kneel by Cas’s hip. “Babe. You ok?”

“Yes,” he growled into the pillow, his arm worming its way from under his body and into the open, making a grabby gesture.

Dean took his hand and squeezed. “You sure? You look a little…”

“I’m fine.”

He bit his lip, eying the back of Cas’s messy head. “Can you look at me?”

Cas let out a long sigh and worked his way to his knees. To Dean’s immense relief, Cas’s eyes were bright and free from redness. He didn’t know how he would react to tears in this situation. “Did they call you, too?”

“Yeah. When I was working on a car. Are you, uh… ok?”

“Yes. I’m just overwhelmed.”

He could work with that. “You’re not regretting anything, right?”

“Oh god, no.” he rushed to reassure him with a gentle squeeze to their still clutched hands. “It just seems like it’s happening so fast.”

“It’s been months,” he pointed out gently.

Cas rolled his eyes. “Yes. But Dean, this time next month we could have another child. With Claire, we were with her surrogate the entire time. All nine months. I just feel like I have less time to prepare. Someone who is due next week could contact us tomorrow and we wouldn’t have time to get ready!”

“Cas. No one is going to shove a baby in your hands right this minute. There’s still a ton of things we need to do, and we haven’t even made a profile yet. We have time.” He brought Cas’s hand to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles. “Everything is going to be fine.”

“How are you so calm?”

Dean shrugged. How could he explain that he was, in fact, freaking the fuck out? For god's sake, he was going to be in charge of another human. One who would look up to him, develop some of his habits—good and bad, and learn about life from him. Anyone would freak out. But on the other side, if the way his relationship with Claire was anything to go by, he was in for a lot of fun too. “I’m trying not to think about it too much. Like I said, it’s going to be a while before we actually adopt so by the time they’re ready, we’ll have this whole thing figured out.”

Cas nodded slowly, his blue eyes boring into Dean’s. “You’re right. I’m being ridiculous.”

“You are _not_ being ridiculous.”

He was silent for a moment. “You’re probably right.”

He smirked. “I’m always right. Now, I need to hop into the shower. I can smell myself right now, and it's not pretty. Wanna join me?”

Cas glanced at his watch. “We have to leave in thirty minutes to get Claire from the afterschool program.”

He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “Come on. I need your help. How else am I going to wash my back?”

“Fine. But you better make it worth my while.”

Dean grinned and began stripping out of his gym shorts and t-shirt, his mind was already coming up with ways to make it more than worth his while.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Despite his statement that things would take a while to come together and they had plenty of time to prepare, things did not go slowly. It was only two days later that they got a phone call that had them set up a handful of appointments and create a family profile that prospective mothers could look at. Once the profile had been completed and a short video had been made, their information was officially in the system. From then on, they had to be prepared to be contacted at any moment by a mother at any stage in her pregnancy.

Cas, despite his initial freakout, hit the ground running. In one expensive Target trip, he came back with a crib, stroller, car seat, pack-n-play, swing, and several months’ worth of diapers. If Dean hadn’t elbowed his way in and insisted on helping, Cas would have put everything together single-handedly. By the time two weeks had passed, Claire’s room had an extra crib, half her closet was cleared out and replaced by gender neutral baby clothes, and the garage was filled with toys and other furniture, all waiting for the new baby. Not to mention the stacks of diapers invading the garage.

They originally wanted to keep the plans from Claire for as long as possible, but once the crib was set up in her room, it was impossible to keep the secret. They planned to tell her after a dinner of her favorite homemade macaroni and cheese, but she beat them to it. She took one look at the crib, turned to her dad's, and raised an eyebrow. “Are we getting a baby? Because I always wanted a baby…”

Dean couldn’t hold back his laugh at that. She said it with the same tone as if she was asking for a bag of popcorn at the movie theatre. Before he could snark out a reply that would probably just confuse her even more, Cas stepped in. “We’re going to be adopting a baby soon… hopefully. We’re waiting for a mommy to choose us. What do you think about that?”

“Like how Abigail adopted a puppy?”

“No, sweetie.” Dean picked her up and sat her on the couch. “Remember when we went to the courthouse and talked to the judge last month? We had to sign some paperwork and then you became my daughter, remember?”

Claire perked up. “I remember! We had chocolate ice cream.”

“Yeah, well this is kinda the same, but we’re going to get another baby.”

She seemed to think it over. “Can I get a sister?”

“We don’t know if it will be a girl or boy. We’re just waiting to see what happens.”

“Is it gonna be today? I could let the baby play with my Pikachu doll.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but we don’t know how long it’s going to take. We could hear from someone tomorrow, or it could take a few months. A mommy has to choose us.”

“That’s ok, then. Do I gotta share my barbies with her?”

“It could be a boy.” He reminded her. “But I think it’s a good idea to get ready to share your toys. Babies don’t always ask permission before playing with things.”

“But you always tell me to ask first when I’m playing with Emma and Alice.” She pointed out, her tongue poking through her missing front tooth. “Will the baby get time out too if he plays with my things?”

“We’ll talk about that later.” Dean ruffled her hair. “For now, I’m going to check on the chickens. Wanna come?”

Her eyes lit up and she followed him outside, her confusion already forgotten.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

The call came on a Friday afternoon.

Dean had just started dinner, a new recipe for lasagna he found on the internet, and Cas was torturing Claire. By torturing, Dean meant that he was forcing her to clean her room before dinner. Cas had already threatened to bring in a trash bag and throw all her toys away twice, and if he heard Cas say it one more time, he’d go in there and do it himself. At six years old, she was beginning to show alarming levels of stubbornness. He joked with Cas often that she got it from him, but Cas always shot back that Dean was the more pig-headed of the two. He couldn’t argue with that.

From its place on the coffee table, Cas’s phone started ringing. He waited a moment, hoping that Cas would hear it and come in on his own, but after the third ring, Cas was nowhere in sight. With a sigh, Dean put the last sheet of noodles on top of the ricotta and cheese mixture, dried his hands, and went to get it himself. “Phone’s ringing, babe! I’ll get it!”

The number was unknown, but that hardly meant anything since Cas constantly forgot to label the numbers, even ones that called often.

“Hello?” he grunted into the phone, already heading back into the kitchen. He still had another layer of meat sauce to put on, another layer of the cheese mixture, even more cheese, and then he had to figure out how long the garlic bread was going to—

“Hello, this is Ashley from Heartfelt Adoption Services. Am I speaking to Mr. Castiel Novak?”

Dean froze, all thoughts of garlic bread and oven temperatures flew out of his mind. “This is Dean Novak.”

She paused for a moment. “Yes, I have a Dean Novak listed right here. I’m calling to let you know that there is a mother who is interested in your profile.”

He heard footsteps, distant through the pounding of the blood in his ears. “Really?”

“Yes, Mr. Novak. I’d like to set up a meeting between both parties.”

He turned to his husband, drawn from the confrontation with Claire by the phone call, and stared at him, wide-eyed with shock. “We’d love that.”

Cas’s head tilted to the side. “Who’s that?”

He placed his hand over the receiver as the woman continued talking about the meeting process. “It’s the adoption service… someone saw our profile. They want to meet.”

Cas’s hand flew up to cover his mouth, eyes widening in the same shock. “Speaker!” He hissed at Dean, gesturing to the phone.

Dean complied immediately.

“—and of course, we’d like to make each party as comfortable as possible, so we have special rooms in our agency for meetings such as these. Mrs. Kline has given us several dates that she is willing to sit down with you, and working with her schedule is of the utmost importance, so it is important to choose a date that will work for her. I hope you can understand.”

Cas was nodding quickly, and Dean cleared his throat. “Yeah, of course.”

“Excellent. The soonest she can meet is this Tuesday at 12:30, and after that there is—”

“Tuesday is fine.” He rushed out with no intention of checking his calendar. If he had to call off of work, so be it. Nothing mattered but meeting with this woman. Cas waved his hand in front of Dean’s face, getting his attention. With exaggerated movements, Cas mouthed the same words Dean had been thinking. ‘ _We’ll make it work.’_

“Excellent. We ask that you arrive fifteen minutes early so you can get checked in and we can go over the rules. Please remember that this is just a meeting, and no contracts or agreements will be made this day.” There was the tapping of nails on the keyboard. “Alright, it’s all set. We will see you at 12:30 on Tuesday.”

In unison, both men collapsed onto the couch and stared at the blank television. Dean was the first to react. “Oh my god…”

“Yes.”

“Someone wants to meet us.”

“I know.”

“Someone looked at my dumb ass and thought ‘Hey, that guy would be a good dad.’ What the fuck.”

“You’re already an amazing dad, and she clearly saw it.”

“Cas…” he turned to his husband. “I’m freaking out here.”

Cas just smiled at him and gave him a peck on his cheek. “Me too.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to go to the meeting and say hi, answer any questions she might have, and be ourselves.”

“Well, _myself_ is an idiot.”

“You’re a smart, wonderful man and I don’t want to hear you talking about yourself in that way.”

Dean rested his head on Cas’s shoulder with a groan. “Why do you gotta be like this?”

“Like what? A loving husband?”

He smiled and lifted his head, capturing Cas’s lips with his.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Kelly Kline was a petite brunette, way too young to be sporting a belly as big as hers. He was no expert, but she had to be at least seven, maybe eight months pregnant. She stood as they entered, first offering her hand, but dropping it immediately before they had time to react. Dean understood. Nerves were a bitch, and all three of them were overflowing with it. He didn’t know if they were the first family she was meeting with or even the tenth, this had to be nerve-wracking for her.

Ashley hung back, staying at the door and looking at them with a smile. “I’ll be right outside this door. Please don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything.”

And just like that, they were alone with Kelly.

Cas stepped forward. “I’m Cas, and this is Dean. Thank you for considering us.”

She nodded and turned to the couch to sit, lowering herself slowly onto the gray cushions. They followed suit, squeezing themselves into the love seat and lapsing into silence.

“So… I’m Kelly, and this—” she rubbed her belly “—is the little bean.”

Dean and Cas smiled at her. “Nice to meet you, Kelly.”

“Hello, little bean.” Dean piped in, coaxing a small smile from the nervous girl.

“The bean says hi. Actually—” she pressed the palm of her hand into her stomach and shifted uncomfortably. “He’s getting me in the ribs pretty good, right now. I think he likes you.”

Dean’s heart stuttered in his chest. A boy. Kelly was having a boy. He had to fight to keep his composure. He hoped Kelly would see the kicking as a sign, because he sure as hell was. “That’s gotta be weird.”

She snorted, finally looking at ease. “It _is._ The kicks were kind of fun in the beginning, but then he started aiming for where I sprained a rib two years ago, and it really hurts sometimes. I like it when he gets the hiccups, though. They’re pretty cute.”

“They do that?”

Cas and Kelly both smile at him. “Yeah, they do.”

“Cool.”

It was silent for a few moments before Cas spoke again. “If you don’t mind me asking, how is the pregnancy going?”

“It’s going well, I guess. The doc says I’ve been gaining the right amount of weight, and all of the ultrasounds and blood tests came back good. I don’t have a family history of many conditions, if that’s something you're worried about. Just high blood pressure. Oh, and my grandmother had breast cancer, but I guess a boy wouldn’t really need to worry much about that.”

Dean wasn’t going to ask, but it was nice to know. “Cool.”

She pulled out a piece of paper. “I actually had some questions for you two…”

“Shoot.”

“Awesome. Uh, how did you two meet?”

Cas smiled. “I know my profile says I’m a history teacher, but they didn’t leave much room for hobbies. I do historical reenacting, and I met Dean at an event. He was there with his friend, and it was love at first sight.”

Dean snorted. “More like I liked how he looked in those breaches.”

“Dean,” Cas hissed, not so discreetly elbowing him in the sides.

“What?” he whined, scooting away to put a few inches between them. “The lady at the desk said to be honest!”

“There’s being honest, and there’s being superfluous.”

Dean mouthed the word in confusion, glancing at the young woman who was watching them with a smile. “Anyway, I met him and Claire when he was doing an event. We talked a bit, and then I came back the next day to ask him out. We’ve been together since.”

She glanced at her paper, eyes scanning the words. “Do you have a large family?”

Dean looked at Cas with a laugh, and he cleared his throat to answer first. “I have six siblings.”

Kelly’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow.”

Dean laughed at her reaction. “Yeah, any kid of ours is going to have aunts and uncles to spare. I just have a brother, though.”

“And your parents? Do they—are they—” she swallowed harshly. “Are they involved in your lives?”

Dean’s heart ached for the girl who didn’t have the support she deserved. “Yeah, my dad passed away, but our parents are both very supportive of us.”

“That’s nice.”

Ca gave her a sad smile. “Do you mind if I ask what you liked about us?”

“I liked a few things. Your daughter… how old is she?”

“She’s six, almost seven.

“She was pretty cute. It’s important that the baby has a sibling, you know? I’m an only child and I was pretty lonely. My parents—” she cut herself off. “Anyways, I was really close to my uncle and you two reminded me of him and his partner.”

“Oh?” Cas asked, curious. “How?”

“He was a teacher too. Taught high school English, actually. His partner was an artist, though. He liked to do this abstract stuff that I never understood.”

“I never got that crap either. Since when was sneezing paint onto a canvas considered art?”

“I know, right?”

They talked about art, cooking, and then somehow got onto the topic of which chain restaurant had the best pancakes.

Cas leaned back in his seat, content to watch both of them with a smile. Cas had often remarked that Dean could get along with anyone, and it was something that he always envied. Now, it seemed, Dean was turning his talent to bonding with the young woman.

They left that day with high spirits, confident that they tried their best, and if she didn’t choose them, then at least they knew what to expect with their next interview.

A week later, Kelly had made her decision. She chose them.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

They stood outside the hospital room, straining to hear past the noises of the hospital and the soft cries of Kelly coming from inside. Her nurses were her only company as she birthed the baby, and the two of them could do nothing but stand by and listen helplessly as the brave young woman brought their child into the world.

“I thought she had an epidural…” Dean muttered. “Why does it sound so painful?”

Cas tightened his arm around Dean’s shoulder. “Even if it’s not painful, it’s very hard to push a baby out of your body, or so I’ve been told.”

Dean made a face. “Thank god I don’t have a uterus.”

Cas was saved from replying by the faintest sound of an infant's cry. They both froze, staring at the door in nervous anticipation. The sound came again, this time louder and angrier. Dean sagged into his husband in relief. “Fuck, did we just become dads again?”

“Kind of? There's a short waiting period before we can take him home, but yes.” Cas looked at him, blue eyes shining. “Congratulations.”

Dean couldn’t stop himself from leaning in and capturing Cas’s lips with his own. They were in a hospital, so he couldn’t kiss his husband like he wanted, but Cas’s kisses never failed to make him feel warm and fuzzy. He doubted they ever would.

They sat on the benches in the halls, waiting patiently for Kelly to be ready to see them. He had a moment of anxiety where he thought that Kelly might change her mind. That she would take one look at the baby and decide to keep him. He squashed the thought. Kelly had told them of her circumstances. Her staunchly religious parents, her absent boyfriend, and the life she would live if she kept the child. He trusted her to go through with it just as she trusted them to give the baby a good life.

Watching people come and go from the room but being forced to remain outside was torture, but soon they were led inside by a helpful nurse.

Kelly looked exhausted but pleased as they entered, and immediately gestured to the baby in the bassinet. “Ta-da!”

Dean stood at the door terrified to go in there and hold the baby, but Cas had no issues about strolling in and pulling the girl into a gentle hug. “You look amazing,” Cas muttered to her.

“I look like crap,” She shot back. “I’m never doing this again.”

He inched his way in, trying to calm himself. Did babies smell fear? Dean shook the thought out of his head and forced himself to walk up to the bassinet and peer inside. His son’s face was pinched and red, eyes closed tightly and eyebrows furrowed. He looked mad, and after what he just went through, Dean couldn’t blame him.

“You should hold him.” He looked up and Kelly was looking at him expectantly. “Skin to skin is the best way.”

Dean remembered walking in on his brother half-naked in the hospital room, pressing their newborn to his chest. He laughed at him at the time, but now... He glanced at Cas, and the man gave him a thumbs up. “Do it.”

A little self consciously, he stripped out of his t-shirt and unwrapped the baby from his swaddle. The baby jerked at the movement, and Dran drew back, just as startled.

“It’s a reflex.”

He gulped and tried again, freeing the baby from the blanket and scooping him up before cradling him to his chest. It took a moment to get things feeling right, but with the baby’s warm body cradled to his and his tiny hands pressed into his skin, Dean’s nerves were replaced by a rush of awe.

Cas approached him and stroked the baby’s soft head. “What’s his name?”

When Kelly made no reply, they both looked up at her.

She seemed startled by the attention. She glanced between them, equal parts exhausted and confused. “You want me to name him?”

They’ve spoken about how Kelly couldn’t legally sign the child over to them until twelve hours had passed, so they couldn’t take him home until the next day. They’ve talked about the future, how much contact she was comfortable with having between them. They’ve spoken about how she hoped the child would be raised. They’ve spoken about how often they would mail her updates, pictures, and anything else they might think to add. They’ve never talked about her naming him. In fact, they didn’t even think of the possibility until they got to the hospital and she was already pushing.

“We figured it was the least we could do. You’ve given us a great gift.” Cas went back to stroking the baby’s head. “He’s beautiful.”

She looked at the child, so quiet and peaceful in the comfort of Dean’s arms, and reached out. “Can I?”

He placed him in the crook of her arms and stepped back, watching as she looked him over. Kelly brushed her hand over the dark tuft of hair, stroked his chubby cheeks, and smiled when he yawned widely. “He looks like a Jack, to me.”

“Jack,” Cas repeated. “I like it.”

“Hello, Jack.” Dean cooed, “nice to meet you.”

She handed the baby back, and Dean eagerly accepted him. “Can’t wait to take you home.”

“He’ll be happy, right?” She asked from her position on the bed. “You’ll take good care of him?”

“The three of us will take excellent care of him.”

They watched her sink into the bed and close her eyes. At the first sight of tears, Cas went over to give her another hug. She accepted it gratefully. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” Cas squeezed her closer, giving her the comfort her own family wasn’t willing to give. Looking at them, Dean felt the emotion building in his chest. As gently as possible, he put little Jack back into the bassinet, draped the blanket over him, and settled in beside his husband.

They held her for a long time as she cried, dumping all of her stress and sadness onto them, and they took it willingly.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

They ran into problems immediately. The base was already set up and ready to go, so all they had to do was clip the car seat in and drive away, but as Cas climbed in to sit next to Jack, he made a grunt of annoyance.

Dean, still a little anxious over their little passenger, whipped around in the driver's seat. “What? Is everything alright?”

Cas bit his lip and didn’t answer immediately. “I forgot how floppy they were.”

“Oh my god.” Dean burst into laughter. “You can’t say that about our son, babe.”

Cas rolled his eyes at Dean. “He has no neck strength and the car seat is angled too far forward, so unless you want me to sit back here and hold his head back for him, we need to figure this out.”

Dean got out of the car to check things out, and sure enough, Cas had two fingers on the sleeping baby’s forehead pushing him into the car seat. He eased off just a little, and Jack’s head went forward, following Cas’s fingers. “Huh.”

“Yeah, ‘ _huh’_. Can you help me, or not?”

“Calm down, I got this.” Dean walked to his trunk and pulled out his spare pair of coveralls, rolling them into a wedge. “How about you lift the seat up and I’ll tuck this under the base so it's not so forward.”

He unclipped the seat easily and put it on his lap while he waited for Dean. When he was done, Cas slid it back into place and let go of Jack’s forehead nervously. Thankfully, the baby remained asleep through the jostling. “Thanks.”

Dean took his seat at the steering wheel and began their drive home. As he rounded the corner and into the main street, he gassed the car gently, going the exact speed limit and breaking as smoothly as possible. He’d never driven so carefully in his life. “Its ok, babe. We got this. Relax a little.”

“You’re right. This isn’t my first rodeo, but it’s been a while. I was the same way with Claire.”

The second problem revealed itself the moment they pulled onto the freeway. Jack, who had slept most of the morning, only waking up to be fed, jerked into alertness and immediately began wailing. He didn’t seem to want the pacifier, the soft teddy bear they bought him from the gift shop, or even the tinkling lullabies playing from Cas’s phone. He shushed Jack the entire ride home, hoping that Jack would calm down before Claire could see him, but he cried the entire ride back and through the entire phone call to Sam letting him know it was ok to bring Claire over.

As soon as they pulled into the garage, Cas was unclipping the seat. “Can you get a bottle going?”

He did as he was told, scooping the smelly powder into a bottle and giving it a good shake. Like he’s seen Sam do before, he let the milk drip onto his inner wrist and tested the temp. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but since it felt lukewarm, he figured it was good enough. He handed Cas the bottle and watched as he teased the baby’s lips, wetting them with the milk, before slipping the bottle between Jack’s smacking lips.

The silence was beautiful. “I’m so glad the bassinet is on your side of the bed.”

Cas sighed. “If you think he won’t wake you up as well, you’re in for a surprise.”

“Yeah, kids got some lungs.”

They say together, watching the baby as he sucked down the contents of the bottle, pausing every few seconds to breathe before drinking some more. When the bottle was finally empty and Jack had settled into a food-coma like doze, Cas handed him over. “Have you burped a baby before?”

He leaned back. “I’m not going to hit him.”

“You won’t be hitting him.” He passed Jack to Dean and sat back. “There are a few ways you can burp him. Over the shoulder, or my favorite, sit him on your lap. That way if he spits up, it’s not on your shirt.”

Dean passed Jack back to Cas like they were playing a game of pass the baby. “Show me?”

Cas did as he was asked, placing Jack into a seated position facing out. With sure hands, he wrapped his forearm around the baby and gripped his jaw, offering support for his chest and easily holding the child in place. With one firm stroke, he whacked the baby’s upper back. “Like this.”

Dean watched in awe as Cas thumped the baby’s back, Jack sitting there contentedly as Cas worked. A tiny burp left Jack’s mouth after half a dozen thumps and Cas paused, turning a triumphant expression to Dean. “You try.”

With Cas’s help, Dean replicated the hold. It took him a few hits to get it right, and Dean still felt that he was hitting too hard, but after a few hits Jack released a large burp and Dean relaxed a fraction. “Ok, this isn’t too bad.”

“Get a few more out of him and we can call it good.”

They burped him until Sam’s car rumbled up the drive a minute later. From their spot in the living room, they could see Sam and Claire climb out of the car and walk up the drive. The only thing keeping Claire from running to the door and yanking it open was Sam’s firm grip holding her back. The minute the front door was open, she wiggled out of his grip and shot towards them in excitement, crowding into them to get a look at Jack.

“He’s so cute!” she yelled. “And his hair is so messy.”

“You have to be quiet, sweetie. He’s sleeping.” He brushed her hair out of her face and pointed back to the door. “Take your shoes off. You know the rules.”

She grumbled about it but did as she was asked, immediately coming back to see the baby the moment her shoes were off. “What's his name?”

“Claire, meet Jack.”

“Hewwo, widdle Jacky wacky.” She cooed, and Dean had to hold back his laugh. “He’s so cute! Cutie wootie.”

Cas looked at Sam, amusement clear on his face. “Come and see your nephew.”

He smiled widely and knelt next to Claire. “Do you mind if I take a picture of him to show everyone?”

Dean nodded. “Just Jess, Emma, and Alice. We want to send it to mom and Cas’s parents. Don’t post it anywhere, though.”

He took out his phone and aimed it at the baby, taking a few snapshots before putting his phone away. “I have to head back, but let me know when I can bring the girls over. We’ll bring dinner for you guys.”

They said their goodbyes and Sam left, leaving their little family of four alone in the house.

“Can I hold him?”

“Yes, of course. Let me show you how.”

He had Claire sit on the couch, tucking her into the corner with her legs out straight. Cas put a pillow at each of her elbows and gestured for the baby, taking him carefully from Dean and draping him over Claire’s lap. His head and legs were supported mostly by the pillows, but Claire didn’t seem to notice as she gazed at his face in awe.

She remained as still as Dean had ever seen her, just watching and making little baby noises at her brother, cooing softly to him as he slept. Dean’s heart clenched in his chest at the clear love she already had for her little brother. Dean pulled his gaze to Cas, who had leaned back on his heels and was watching Claire with the same expression.

They made themselves comfortable next to Claire, Dean at the baby’s head and Cas at his feet. Cas toyed with his tiny toes, the foot so small compared to Cas’s thumb. He knew it would take a while, and many sleepless nights until he was used to Jack, and he prayed to any god that was listening that they would form a deep bond like him and Claire. Cas and Claire, it seemed, were already there.

That night Jack woke them up four times, wailing at the top of his lungs for food and comfort. They were both tired and irritable in the morning, but one look at Jack’s face melted it all away.

**Author's Note:**

> Goodness…I don’t know what to say. Seriously, thank you to everyone who commented and showed their appreciation! A special thank you to everyone who's been with me from the beginning. And an extra special thanks to my betta who's been with me since #19. I’ve grown so much as a writer during this series, and I really don’t want to end it. Writing Dean and Cas fall more and more in love, bickering endlessly, and live their day to day lives have been seriously therapeutic for me. I know there were times where it’s taken me forever to update, but that was because my life has been super busy and stressful. As a student, a mom/wife, and a working gal, I’ve come to treasure my quiet writing time. Writing this series has helped me decompress and relax, and I’m grateful to those who’ve kept me going. I’m extremely grateful to the encouragement I’ve received, and because of that encouragement, I’ve continued to write and grow my skill. It was a blast, guys! I love you all.
> 
> Keep an eye out for a timestamp or two, but this series is officially complete!


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